Round and Round
by fisharecoolies
Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, around Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can’t stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self discovery. But will it lead them together again? JH
1. Same Old Song And Dance

Authors Note: Okay, everyone who hates the new season because Jackie and Hyde aren't together and aren't even acting like they were in love before raise your hand. Yup, that's what I thought. The writers aren't writing this season very good, in my humble opinion, because they are having Jackie and Hyde act like nothing ever happened between them. The problem with that is that something did happen; they were (are!) in love. This is what I think should happen this season. Everyone's making one, so I decided to do it too. And, like the real show, the chapter's names will be of songs of old bands. I'll use Aerosmith songs, just for fun. I'll try not to make it the same as everyone else's.

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

* * *

Chapter 1: Same Old Song And Dance

The basement. The place of sweet moments between lovers and friends, of heartbreak and loneliness and of dim times where no one can truly remember what happened but boy it was funny. But for Jackie, it became increasingly hard to go there day after day. Every time she went in there, she had to put on her game face, which was ironically the Zen face that Hyde taught her. It was so ironic because she had to use it because of him.

Stepping into the dusty basement was like a slap in the face to Jackie. It was her reminder that she and Hyde were no longer together. On more than one occasion she wanted to run from the basement crying, but she couldn't let him see her that way. And she definitely couldn't let that skanky tramp see her that way. Pride was the only thing that Jackie Burkhart had left. Well, that and unimaginable beauty.

She was there by herself for the first time in weeks. Donna was with Fez, getting her hair done thankfully because Jackie knew that if she had to sit there and look at her red roots any longer she would have had to puke. With Kelso and Eric gone away, and that slutty Sam in Vegas for a bit, there was no one left but her. Almost no one, that is.

Jackie sighed and brushed a piece of her brunette hair back behind her ear. She hated when it got into her face too much, it tickled her skin the way Steven's beard used to when he had it. _That's before he shaved it for me,_ she thought and felt a tear starting to come to her eye. Quickly, she blinked it back and breathed deeply. _No. You're not crying here,_ she told her mind and looked around. On the round table in front of her, she found an old copy of Cosmo that she had brought to the basement a week or so ago and started flipping through it. Soon, she found an article about Farrah Fawcet and began reading intently. She didn't even notice that a new body had entered the room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hyde had given the keys and the rights as manager to Randy for the day. Man, he needed a break. Corporate America was starting to weigh him down. Coming through the glass slide door, he stopped at the refrigerator to grab one of Red's beers. Then he headed for the basement, thinking he'd have it all to himself for once.

Half way down the stairs he noticed a certain brunette sitting on the couch, her head down. He felt his chest constrict. There was the girl he loved. He still did, God help him. He wasn't supposed to. She'd cheated on him and he didn't know if he could get passed that. _She did_, he heard another part of him say and he mentally kicked it in the nads for reminding him. Yeah, she'd always taken him back, even when he didn't deserve it. _Why did I have to run away to Vegas? I could have just come back here and wallowed silently with my stash. Then I wouldn't have married Sam and I wouldn't have made Jackie so miserable. _He silently laughed at himself at his last thought. He had broken up with her once so she could live her life without him holding her back, so she could be happy. Well, they were broken up and she wasn't happy. _She's not living her dream, either, _the voice chimed in again.

Hyde would have kicked the voice again if what it said weren't true. Jackie was miserable and it was his fault. Her life would have been great if he just would have told her the thing that had been on his mind since she went wedding shopping with Eric. He wanted her for the rest of his life. He couldn't say that though, so he ended up causing what he was trying not to. Her pain. Sure, she tried to pretend everything was fine but Hyde knew her. After all, she didn't have a pair of rose tinted glasses to fall back on. It wasn't like he was happy with Sam, anyway. She was cool and really hot, but that's all she was. She was no Jackie.

Gathering up his strength, Hyde fixed his tinted glasses and walked down the rest of the stairs. When he got to his chair, he grabbed the remote and sat down. He glanced over once at Jackie, who he saw was reading Cosmo, before flipping the TV on. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her glare at him, most likely for ruining her reading time.

Jackie knew that he'd been there the entire time. She loved him long enough to know when he was around. It was a kind of sixth sense that she had grown in their time together. When he was going through the channels, she couldn't help but say, "It took you long enough to get down here."

Noticing the coldness and bitterness that was in her tone, his heart flinched. But he recovered and responded, "Whatever, I just didn't know if I wanted to come down here or not."

Jackie rolled her eyes, trying to keep from showing how hurt she was. "So, you were debating whether or not to come down here with me? I guess I didn't realize how much of a plague I am. Don't worry, I won't disturb you anymore." Despite her best efforts at being cool, her pain slipped into her words. Hot tears started to come to the surface of her mismatched eyes so she dropped her magazine and walked out the door.

"Jackie?" Hyde said as the door shut. He never meant to hurt her, but he always seemed to. _And that's why I'm better off with Sam. I don't love her and she doesn't love me. No feelings, no emotions, no way I can hurt her. But if that's true, why do I still make Jackie cry?_

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Well, should I keep going? Tell me what you think. If you say that I should, the next one will revolve around the episode "Fun It". Review, please!


	2. Back In The Saddle

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. Maybe the writers will be nice and let them be together soon.

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Back In The Saddle

Jackie laid on Donna's bed, taking a quiz in one of her Cosmo's. They had some good ones even Fez would admit that. But then again, it wasn't much to say that he enjoyed the feminine magazine. She sighed and looked at the bottom of the page to read her assessment.

_You are very strong-minded when it comes to relationships. Some may even call you pushy. But you love deeply and always let your affection be known. Don't hide it but maybe take a different approach when it comes to showing your love._

_Ha, that's nothing like me at all, _Jackie thought. _Okay, well maybe._ "Hey Donna, you know what?"

"Hmm…" Donna said, not taking her own eyes off the page she was reading.

_Probably an article about lumberjacking,_ Jackie mused. "I think I should start dating again."

"What?" Jackie had definitely gotten her attention with that. Only a few weeks ago, she had heard Jackie swear off men. Now she wants them again?

"Yeah, well, I guess I know that Steven and I are over. Really over this time. I'd give my hair to have him back… well, not really, but that's not the point… I just think it's time to move on. He's obviously happy with that skanky tramp. They don't argue like we did," Jackie said, sitting up. Her face only shown the slightest hint of emotion; Steven had certainly taught her well.

"That's because they don't have any passion. Sure they've had sex but they've never made love. Why? Because he's still in love with you, he's just too much of a dumbass to realize that! And if you can't see that, then you're a dumbass too," Donna said, exasperated. She had almost had her limit of this new Jackie and Hyde deal. Hadn't they learned by now?

"Oh, you're just grumpy because you and Eric are over and you're adjusting to having a cooler guy to date," Jackie said. With that she dropped her Cosmo and left, determined to find someone else to tell about her plans.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the Hub, Fez and Hyde were munching on an order of fries. And "munching" was the correct term for what they were doing.

"So, has Sam called lately?" Fez asked, dipping a fry into the blob of ketchup he made on a napkin and shoving it into his mouth. He chewed enthusiastically, waiting for his best friend to answer. Well, his best friend after Kelso. And Kelso was gone. It seemed like their compact little group was falling apart.

"Yeah, she's at a convention. She said she'll be back later though," Hyde said as if he were telling what was the color of the table they were sitting at. What did it matter to him that Sam was gone? He didn't need her. He didn't depend on her. He didn't love her.

"Hey guys," he heard a voice say. The voice was familiar but the tone wasn't. Hyde looked up to find a dark haired pixie in his line of vision. The pixie floated to the chair across from him and sat down, reaching forward to grab a fry and delicately take small bits from its tip.

"Hi Jackie!" he heard Fez say and snapped out of his stasis.

"Hey," the Zen said.

"So, I think I'm going to start dating again."

"Oh, well, Jackie, I don't know if I'm free. There are a lot of ladies who want the sexiness that is Fez."

"Not you and ha!" she laughed. When would Fez learn? "I meant other people. People around town. Guys around town. I'm not spending the rest of my life cooped up in Eric's basement. I want to start my life. And that requires a husband, so…" she waved her hand as if illustrating a point.

"Jackie. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Hyde said, after recovering from a momentary panic attack. A small part of him let himself feel something for her. And when she said she wanted to date other people, it hurt like hell. And Hyde didn't like it at all.

"No it's not. You married a stripper after saying that you wouldn't marry me. Which leads me to the conclusion that I have to go out with every guy until I find the guy who wants to marry me. But don't worry. I'm not looking for love. Just marriage," she said simply.

"Seriously Jackie, what the hell is wrong cause you're kinda freaking me out. And trust me, I'm not in the state of mind where I can stand being freaked out." Hyde's gaze bore straight into her, even through the glasses.

"I am being serious," she said but when she looked at him, she knew he needed a better explanation. "Okay. You see, I loved you with every piece of me I had and you didn't feel the same, which means that love isn't all that important. If I can love that strongly and get nothing in return, then what is the point anyway? Love is for ugly people," she said, taking another French fry.

Though he didn't show it, Hyde was shocked. Had he really hurt her so badly that she gave up on love? The one thing that he thought she'd never do? He couldn't believe it. And not only that, but she thought that he never loved her, although when he didn't get a divorce from Sam he saw how she could have gotten the impression. But the aspect of what she had just said that hit him the hardest and shocked him the most was how Zen she was being about it all. Never in his days had he seen her this calm and collected. Never in his days had he seen her this empty.

"Well, good for you! You can try me, you know. We already live together," Fez insinuated.

"I'll never be that desperate for a husband," Jackie said with a laugh. "I'll see you guys later. I have to find a job, seeing as how I gave it up to be with my boyfriend who turned out to be married," she said snidely.

_That's the Jackie I know and…_Hyde stopped and laughed bitterly to himself as he watched her walk away. _Love._

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

So, I said that this would be based around "Fun It" but I couldn't find the episode transcripts and I wanted to be accurate. Sorry about the lag in updating. This week had been so busy. But I hope to get one before Christmas and two or three next week, so look for that. Review and tell me what you think, or if you have any ideas. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. YOU'RE AWESOME!


	3. Girl Keeps Coming Apart

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. Maybe the writers will be nice and let them be together soon.

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Girl Keeps Coming Apart

The moment Hyde walked up the stairs he was hit by the aroma of baked goods. More specifically… pie. A small smile spread across his lips as he opened the basement door and stepped in the kitchen. Oh yes, this was going to be a good day.

Kitty rarely ever baked this early and when she did, it meant something. Somehow Hyde had forgotten what it meant but he didn't care. He wanted pie. "Smells good, Mrs. Forman."

"Oh, Steven, honey. You're awake. You can make sure this new lemon recipe is as good as it's supposed to be," she said and laughed the nasal way she always did and cut him a piece. He went to the table to sit as she brought him the piece and a fork to eat it with. Slowly, he dug his fork into the edge of the pie and brought the pie into his mouth. Kitty watched intently as he chewed, nervously smiling. For a minute she thought he would cringe but then he grinned and nodded at her. She let out a deep breath of air and said, "Good. I had my suspicions about this recipe. Mrs. Teller down the street gave it to me and you know how she is." Kitty illustrated her point by pretending to chug a bottle.

Hyde was about to make a remark on how ironic it was that she would discredit someone for drinking, seeing as how Kitty was on to at least a wine bottle a day, but decided against it. She'd never been the same since Eric left. But boy, this was good pie. He suspected his earlier "activities" in the basement were the reason why he was more concerned with the pie but he didn't care about that either.

"Hi, Mrs. Forman," Donna said appearing through the sliding doors. She sat down on a stool and flipped back her blonde hair.

For some reason Hyde just couldn't get over it. Donna was a blonde. It looked good on her but he liked her red hair better. Gave her a darker edge. A sexier edge. Just like the brunette did for… "So, Donna, what's going on?" _Phew, close one. Almost thought about the unmentionable. I gotta let up on circle time. _

"Nothing. I was bored so I came over to see what Mrs. Forman was doing and by the looks of it, she made a pie." Donna said before getting interrupted.

"There you go again Donna, always thinking about food."

Hyde looked sharply up. In front of him Jackie stood with her arms crossed, giving Donna her patented arched eyebrow glare. Hyde gulped. He loved that look. Thank God he had his glasses on. _I knew these things would be needed for more than hiding the redness. _

"Well, since you girls are here, have some pie. Everyone loves pie!" Kitty laughed again and went back to the counter to get more pie. Jackie moved to sit at the table but not before giving Donna an I-think-Mrs.-Forman-is-drunk look. Donna gave her the same look back before turning her attention to Kitty, who was cutting their slices.

"So, Steven where's your wife. Stripping?" Jackie burned.

"Actually she is," Hyde said simply and continued eating his pie, which was definitely not the answer Jackie wanted.

"Jackie, that's not table talk," Kitty said when she put her pie in front of the tiny girl.

"Well, it's not my fault that Steven married a stripper," Jackie stated snobbishly.

"Jackie, shut your pie hole!" Hyde said forcefully.

"Haha! Pie hole. And she's eating pie!" Kitty was in hysterics as Jackie, Hyde and Donna just stared at her.

"It wasn't that funny," Jackie said softly.

"Are you okay, Mrs. Forman?" Donna asked, slipping off her chair to go to Kitty.

"Oh yes. Can't a person laugh at a good pun anymore? Haha." Her tone and face straightened out before she said, "I'll be in the living room."

Once Kitty was through the double doors, Jackie said, "She's probably getting herself a drink."

"Jackie!" Hyde snapped at her. How dare she say that about the woman who's cared about her when her own mother would rather be sipping a margarita in Tijuana with a pool boy?

"What?" She added when seeing Donna and Hyde faces. "Come on. You haven't noticed much she's been drinking ever since Eric left for Africa. I mean, she drank before. She never _drank_ before."

"Yeah, she's almost in the same league as your mother, Jackie." Hyde burned. The instant he said it, he wondered why he did. There were plenty of other things he could burn her about; the fact that she had no job, no dreams, no boyfriend. Why did he have to choose her mother?

Jackie looked up at him, staring her mismatched eyes into his even through the rose tinted glasses. Her hurt wasn't concealed like he kept his. His family was dysfunctional from the start but hers… hers was good, if not all pretend, before her dad went to jail. True, her mother left a lot and her father was more interested in business than her but they were mostly there for her and if she focused on only the time they were there and nothing else, she had a perfect life. She had known that fulfillment of family and security before which made its absence worse. She knew what she was missing.

"Jackie," he tried to reason but he couldn't finish. She got up and left. No comebacks, no nothing. Just silence. Hyde shrugged and dipped back into his lemon pie. It was amazing pie.

Finally a voice pierced the silence. "You're just going to let her leave like that?" Donna asked, somewhat appalled.

He glanced up at her. What was he supposed to do? And when the hell did she become the defender of Jackie? Jackie was a big girl now, an independent girl now. She should be able to take care of herself now. _Should _be able to, but wasn't and Hyde knew that. But he couldn't talk to her so he said, "Yup."

Donna gave him a look of disgust. "You know, she gets the point. You don't have to keep hurting her," she said before following the path that Jackie took to the driveway.

Hyde was honestly baffled. What got up Donna's ass? He shrugged it off and went back to pie. _At least pie will always be good to me. Mmmm…_

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

The drink shook in her hand as she cried. She was locked from the rest of the world by a bathroom door and she was glad she was. Sure, there were people there that needed her. But it wasn't enough. He had always needed her and now he didn't. He barely spoke to her at all and when he did, it hurt more than it helped. She drained the glass, rinsed out the glass and stepped back into the bedroom. As if in routine, she replaced the bottle into its hiding place along with the glass. Once it was veiled, she heard a voice in the hall.

"I'll be there in a second Red," Kitty said, glancing once more at the hiding spot before returning to the real world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Authors Note: I tried to make Hyde more Hyde. The Hyde that feels bad about being a jerk to Jackie but can't help it because it's who he is and she should know that. But she doesn't, of course, so he just keeps hurting her. If I came up short, I'm sorry but it's the best I can do. Fez will be a pretty big part in the next chapter, so Fez lovers should be pleased unless I write him back. I'd have to say his is the hardest to write. Review please! Thanks to everyone who did and does, I check for them constantly.


	4. Under My Skin

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. Maybe the writers will be nice and let them be together soon.

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

* * *

Chapter 4: Under My Skin

"Hurry up, Fez, the sale isn't going to last forever."

That was the whiney little voice he'd been hearing for five hours now and he was more than sick of it. Oh, he thought it would be great spending the entire day with the beautiful Jackie but it was hell. The bad kind of hell, as Hyde would say. All Fez wanted, more than beer or porno or candy (gasp!) was to be free from the spawn of Satan. He finally understood way Eric referred to her that way.

"Fez," Jackie said, glaring at him. Apparently he still wasn't moving fast enough. For a short girl, she sure could power walk around a mall.

"What Jackie? I have been following you around for hours now, what else do you want?" Fez said, his accent very clear but it had gotten better over the years since he'd arrived in America. _Has it really been that long since I've been home to…_

"Oh stop complaining. Because you wanted a pretzel, I missed out on ten minutes of shopping! And did I say anything about that?" she asked, very annoyed by her tone.

"Yes you did. And you wouldn't shut up about it for an hour. Then brought up again when we had lunch. And when we went shoe shopping. And…" Fez said before the dark haired midget he was accompanying cut him off.

"Fez! That's not even the point," she raged. "You said you wanted to go shopping, it's not my fault that you weren't ready to commit to it." _Some people,_ Jackie thought. It amazed her that he could be so selfish.

"I agreed to go shopping. This is not shopping. It is cruel and unusual punishment," Fez yelled, rolling his r's throughout the entire ordeal.

"Fine, leave. I don't need to go shopping with you, even if you have better taste than Donna." With that, she spun on her heels and walked away defiantly.

"Good day," he screamed after her and left. Sure he was her ride there but she could find one home. He would have to deal with her yelling when she got home but after the torture he had just put up with, it was a small price to pay.

A while later he arrived at Hyde's record store, hoping that Randy wouldn't be there. He wanted to spend time with his friends that were either always there or at the basement, not hang around with the new guy. The new guy that got treated better than he did, he hated to admit. His brows furrowed with anger as he entered the store and creased more when he saw Randy behind the cash register. He remembered to when he got to stand behind there. He never really did anything but Damnit, it was his place to stand! Son-of-a-bitch.

"Hey Fez," Hyde said when Fez had walked to the couch that Hyde was sitting on. Donna was next to him and they were playing an older Led Zeppelin record.

"Hey," he responded.

"Fez, aren't you supposed to be at the mall with Jackie?" Donna asked with a grin on her face that clearly said 'You unlucky bastard'.

"I was but I left her there. She was being mean and she didn't even let me have any candy!" he said in the tone that half sounded gay, half sounded like he was a small child.

"You left her!" Hyde said and started laughing. He couldn't really help it. He knew what it was like to shop with Jackie and the fact that Fez left her was hysterical. "Way to go, man. I never had the balls to do that."

"I couldn't deal with another second of listening to 'Does this good?', 'How would this look with my red jumper?', 'Stop groping the bras, Fez, it's creepy'," he said and sat down on the edge of the couch.

"Well, someone's going to have to go get her," Donna said and got up, implying that she knew she'd have to do it.

"Hold up," Hyde said and stood with her. "I'll go get her. I've been spending way too much time in this place. I'm slowly becoming 'The Man', man."

Donna shrugged and sat down, "Suit yourself. At least she wouldn't get the chance drag me in there with her. If I ever hear her say that my body is too tall for anything pretty again, I might kill her."

The gang, or what was left of it, laughed. They stayed there for a minute, not speaking, just trying to pretend that everything was the way it used to be. But it wasn't and they knew it. Donna was sitting next to an empty space on the couch. Fez was backing no one up on how man-pretty they were. And Hyde was picking up ex-Jackie up from the mall, not girlfriend-Jackie.

Fifteen minutes later Hyde pulled the El Camino into a parking space in front of the big entrance at the mall. He got out and made his way to the doors, hands placed casually in pockets, glasses on. He had no idea where to look for her first. All he knew was that Fez and Jackie had scoured the top floor. Frustrated he walked slowly through the mall, peering into the shops. Finally he made his way to a small, but expensive shop in an alcove in the mall. There, Jackie was looking through a row of tops, checking the sizes, feeling the fabric, the perfect shopper.

He sighed deeply. He wanted to just stare at her forever, take in her form, remember the private times between them. But he knew she'd look over sooner or later and that would be bad. It might give her hope. And besides pain, that was the last thing he wanted to give her. Because hope led straight to pain and he knew that from every experience in his life.

Gathering his strength he walked into the posh store, ignoring the stares of the other customers until he was beside her. She didn't notice though, she was too busy examining a potential piece of clothing for her delicate body.

It was great shirt she had to admit. She'd spent almost five hundred dollars already but what did it matter? She had the money. Her mother gave her a very large allowance while she was away. But she didn't know if she wanted to spend any more. Suddenly, she smelt her favorite smell in the entire world. The strong, manly smell of smoke and soap. The smell of Steven. She looked over quickly, almost bumping herself into his chest. At the last second though she pushed herself back and away from the one place she really wanted to be. She couldn't be there though, so she glared at him and spat, "What are you doing here?"

"Picking your ass up, so hurry up or I'll leave and you really won't have any way of getting home," his words came out harsher than he wanted but it was better that they had. She looked at him before grabbing the shirt she had been pondering and going to the cash register to buy it. He followed behind her so she couldn't get any ideas of stopping to look at anything else on the way.

The cashier rung up the shirt and Jackie paid. Hyde stood behind her, tapping his foot slightly but impatiently. Why he'd ever volunteered to drive her home, he didn't know. _If I didn't need to lay off the stash before, I really need to now,_ he thought, vowing that he would stick to his plan this time. Only three circles a day from now on.

"I'm done," she said, breaking him from his trance. He looked at her, taking in her face before leading her to where he parked in silence. That was also the way they drove home also, in silence. Jackie shifted in the El Camino, very uncomfortable with being in it. She kept thinking about all the times she'd driven with him. She looked at him and knew from his very slight grin that he was thinking about the other things that they'd done in the El Camino.

He didn't realize he was grinning until his eyes glanced over at Jackie, who was staring at him. Thankfully he had his glasses on so she couldn't tell that he had noticed. He let her continue, hoping that she'd stop soon. It was almost too much to bear. She was the only one who could read him and he knew she was reading him as he drove. Because he was focusing on the road, there wasn't much to read so she moved her eyes to the window and leaned her head against it. Hyde couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked with the light from the fading sun streaming in the window and onto her porcelain face.

"Look," he said, still gazing at the road. "I didn't mean to say anything about your mom. It was really shitty of me. I'm sorry."

"Whatever," she said, but her tone said that she meant a lot more than 'whatever'.

* * *

Authors Note: Sorry if I messed up Fez. Its so hard getting the perfect funny that is Fez. Review please! 


	5. Attitude Adjustment

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. Maybe the writers will be nice and let them be together soon.

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

* * *

Chapter 5: Attitude Adjustment

First dates. She'd been on plenty of them but for some reason she actually felt nervous about this one. The last first date she'd been nervous about was with Steven and that was such a long time ago, she could barely remember it.

_Well, that's a lie. You can remember every detail about it,_ she thought, applying her make-up. She'd finished most of it but stopped when she went to put on her lip-gloss. No, not that one. That one she'd never wear for anybody but him. And since she wasn't going to be wearing anything for him again, Jackie figured she'd never get to wear strawberry lip-gloss ever again. _Oh well. Out with the old and in with the new._

The new that she was referring to was her date for the night; Ian Bateman. She'd meet him at the Hub a few days ago. He was the perfect guy for her. A Kelso with darker hair. A man she could never really love.

What happened to her? That's what she had been wondering for some time now. Sometimes when she thought about it, she couldn't believe that she, Jackie Burkhart, had actually given up on love. But in the back of her mind she knew that it was coming. After all, her parents didn't marry for love and, as they say, the apple never falls that far from the tree.

She gave herself one final look in the mirror before sitting on her bed and waiting for Fez to tell her that Ian had arrived. She always believed, because her mother had told her so, that the man should wait on the woman. It was unladylike to wait at the door, or even answer it for that matter. So, she sat there with nothing more to do to make herself desirable. She was wearing a long jean skirt with a brown top and matching boots, therefore being the epitome of perfection. Ah, first dates.

* * *

Hyde and Donna sat in the basement watching the Love Boat, the only reason being there was nothing else on. Sam was still in Las Vegas and she was probably going to be there until after the New Year. Usually, a husband was supposed to be angry or at the very least a little disappointed that his wife was spending so much time away but Hyde was kind of glad. Not that he minded her presence, she was really hot after all, but he really didn't care either way about her comings and goings. It honestly didn't matter to him.

Donna sighed in boredom, something she rarely ever did. Sighing was Jackie's thing but seeing as how they were best friends, she had to pick up on it eventually. But Jackie never picked up Donna's love of Led Zeppelin, so things weren't exactly even, but whatever "This year blows," she said, still staring at the TV.

"Yup," Hyde said, mimicking her behavior. After that, neither one said anything for a really long time. Even though they had a very important detail of their lives in common, only Donna would be comfortable talking about it. Hyde didn't talk about his feelings, especially if those feelings involved love or the lack of it.

"You wanna go to the Hub," he offered.

"Are you saying that because you know Jackie is going on a date with that rich guy that she's been talking about lately and you know he'd never take her there?" Donna asked, suddenly interested in the conversation they were having.

"No," Hyde said in the manner he did when he had been caught being jealous and Zen didn't quite mask it all.

"Okay," she said disbelievingly before getting up. "Yeah, I'll go."

"Whatever."

* * *

At the exact moment Ian said he would pick her, Jackie heard a knock on her door. She took one last look at herself in her mirror before Fez came in and told her that her date was there. He looked kind of annoyed; after all, Jackie should have been his by now. He'd played the good friend all these years, tending to Donna when she got angry with Eric and to Jackie when Kelso or Hyde hurt her. Damnit, it was his turn!

But like the good, if not very horny friend, Fez got out of her way to let her make a grand entrance. He was surprised though when she first gave him an endearing hug and whispered, "Thank you," in his ear. _Well, maybe Fez gets something after all_, he thought.

Twenty minutes later, Ian pulled his Mercedes into the valet entrance in front of Masimo, Point Place's grandest and most expensive restaurant. Jackie sighed, but only in her mind. She didn't need Ian to know that she did that a lot. She really didn't need him to know anything. Like she'd said, she just wanted to marry him.

"Shall we enter, my lady," Ian said in an accent that was almost like her fathers; the rich, snobbish voice that seemed to say _I'm rich, I'm better, you are nothing at all._

_My lady, I was never Steven's lady_, Jackie thought bitterly to herself as she let Ian open her door and help her out. As she walked into the foyer of the restaurant, a small voice in the back of her head said, _Yeah, but you were his chick._ She blinked back the memories before they could flood her mind. Steven wasn't going to ruin the night when the rest of her life was to begin.

Dinner was pleasant enough. Ian had ordered for the both of them; roast beef for him and a delicate salad for Jackie. She knew she should have minded, and a part of her did; you couldn't listen to Donna's feminist crap for all those years and not have it effect you. But she didn't care. She didn't have that luxury anymore.

They talked about him mostly; his money, where his money came from, what he bought with his money, what he could buy her with his money. This should have made Jackie very happy, but it didn't make her feel anything. She smiled politely, like the good wife she'd soon make, but in her mind she was trying to think of their wedding. For some reason, the usual wedding-minded brunette couldn't picture a single detail about the affair. And this made her very weary.

The date had ended and they arrived at her house. Jackie let Ian walk her to her down and even give her a goodnight kiss. But when he was turning to walk away, she said, "Ian. I don't think we should go out again."

Ian, surprised because he'd never been dumped, stammered. "What? Didn't you have a good time?"

"Yeah, it was okay. I just don't want to do this. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry. You should be, for yourself. You will never find anyone better than me. You'll wind up an old hag, cold and alone, you dumb bitch," Ian said, raising his voice to show he meant it, but not yelling. That wasn't what a rich man did, especially not in front of another rich man's door (even if that man was in jail).

"Whatever," Jackie said, secretly wishing that Steven was there to hit the jerk, just like he'd done all those Veteran's Days ago. She didn't let that show though, so she gave him her most Zen look that she could muster.

"I was told you were dirty, used goods. I should have listened. Why anyone would want you, I don't see," Ian said before striding back to his car, his pride hurt. Jackie knew she should have cared, but she didn't. Not even a little bit.

Once she saw his car at the end of the street, she jumped into her father's old Lincoln and drove down to the Hub.

* * *

"See, why don't we ever do this anymore?" Donna said, looking across to where Hyde was sitting at the booth. She was on the chair on the other side, sipping a soda.

"Do you really want to go into it?" Hyde said, his eyes peering over his rose tinted glasses.

She thought about it for a moment. "No." Shrugging, she set her soda down and picked up her hot dog again. She was just about to take a bite when she heard Hyde shift in his seat. She glanced up, only to see his face staring in the direction of the door. She followed his gaze and when she saw the figure at the door, she understood.

"Apparently, her date didn't go very well," Hyde said, still looking at Jackie, even as she moved closer to the table. When she had finally pulled her chair up to the table, she had the full attention of both her best friend and her ex-boyfriend.

"What?" she asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be on like a date or something?" Donna questioned.

"Yeah." She said simply.

"Well…" Donna started for her.

"Well, nothing. He was perfect but I didn't see anything with him. I couldn't even pretend I saw anything in him. I mean, he sat talking about his money and I just wasn't interested."

Hyde coughed deeply, seemingly because he had just choked on his burger. Jackie resisted the urge to help him (God knew he deserved to choke for everything he'd put her through) but couldn't help giving him a concerned look. One that only Donna saw. "Jesus, Jackie. Not when I'm eating!"

Jackie's concern was wiped off and replaced by annoyance. "Shut your pie hole! Anyway," she said, turning more to face Donna. "Like I was saying, during the entire time I was there with him, I couldn't picture anything about our future. I had no wedding plans, no kids name, no nothing. But it wasn't a total waste."

"You did it with him, didn't you?" Donna accused.

"No! God Donna, you and your silly lumberjack ideas. Going on a date with him made me realize that I can't just marry anybody. I have to be in love with them, or it means nothing. So, I'm done dating. I'm not ready yet," Jackie said, returning her attention to both people. Hyde took that as a sign that she meant him to hear what she said but strangely enough found that he didn't blame her for still being bitter. He still hurt, why shouldn't she?

"Good for you," Donna said before ranting about women's rights and other crap like that. Jackie tuned out and started watching Hyde out of the corner of her eye, occasionally nodding to "prove" that she was listening to her friend. As she stared, she wondered if Hyde had gotten her message, the message that said, "The reason I can't date anyone is because I'm still in love with you."

* * *

Author's Note: Really late with the update. I could give you lots of reason, but I won't bore you with them. I thought that Jackie needed to get back to being strong and less materialistic. I like her better that way. Updates will be coming sooner than before. Also, I just want to say that I HATE THE WRITERS OF THE SHOW, WHAT THE HELL? Why were Hyde and Sam holding hands? Are they trying to see how many viewers they can lose before they get cancelled? I mean, seriously, start getting them back together. Okay, I'm done. Review PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY please. I promise if you read and review mine, I'll read and review yours. 


	6. Rats In The Cellar

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. Maybe the writers will be nice and let them be together soon.

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

* * *

Chapter 6: Rats In The Cellar

It had been roughly two weeks since Jackie went on her date with Ian and for two weeks Hyde couldn't stop thinking about it. There was still a small chance with her. But his thinking had been pushed out the door and stomped on when Sam had come back from Las Vegas. She only going to be there for a few days before she had to go back for Christmas and New Years, but in the back of his mind Hyde wished that she'd leave and never come back. It had been a mistake to let her stay and he knew that. But it was too late now.

"Yeah, man, sounds good," Hyde said into the phone.

"I guess. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. I'll have to tough it out though. I mean, if Luke didn't tough it out when he was…"

"Forman, man, don't even start on that Star Wars crap." Sometimes Hyde couldn't believe his skinny best friend was in Africa, especially when he would talk about Star Wars. They didn't even have electricity where he was, how could he think of Star Wars?

"You just don't get Star Wars," Eric said. "So, how's Jackie?" He knew that they had broken up. Hell, he'd even heard some of their argument in the tape his mom send him several months ago. But he knew what the two meant to each other, even if he thought she was the devil and their relationship was creepy and unnatural.

Hyde glanced over at his 'wife'. She was playing with the bottom of her pink tube top, waiting for her husband to finish talking to some person she'd never met so they could go do it. "Why are you asking me?" he said angrily, "I'm not Jackie's keeper anymore."

"Whoa, Hyde. I was just asking," Eric said, laughing nervously. After that, there wasn't much point in trying to talk anymore so the two lifelong friends said goodbye and returned to their respective lives.

When Hyde thought about it, only his life had turned out how everyone thought it would. Eric had surprised everyone by going to Africa and becoming something. Donna, the only one of the group that had any potential, still lived at home and was 'Hot Donna' at the local radio station. Fez shampooed women's hair, for Pete's sake; no one thought he'd be near women, let alone being able to touch them. And Jackie, by now she and Kelso were supposed to be married. But Kelso was in Chicago, doing the responsible thing for his daughter and her mother and Jackie was alone with no job.

But him? Yeah, he was where he was supposed to be, minus the record store. The store was the one exception that possibly proved the rule. He, Steven Hyde, lived in a basement, smoked and drank more than some rock stars did and was married to a Las Vegas Stripper. Oh, his mother must be proud of him.

"Why did Eric asked _you _about Jackie?" Sam said, breaking him from his thoughts.

"I don't know."

"Well, we're married. He should ask Fez," she said, still prodding him about it.

He sat down in his chair and, not looking at her, said, "Well, me and Jackie were together for almost three years, its just habit. Now get over it."

"No! Didn't you tell me that you broke up with each other a lot?" She yelled.

Anger was starting to infiltrate his Zen attitude. "Well, that's because I couldn't stop screwing up and hurting her!"

Sam scoffed. "I guess she just didn't love you enough."

"She did! Which is why she always took me back!" Hyde screamed, standing up to confront her. He supposed Red and Kitty could hear them but he didn't really care right now. What the hell did Sam know about him and Jackie?

Clearly offended and hurt, Sam yelled back, "Well if you both love each other so much, then why don't you get back together?" She could feel tears coming to the back of her eyes and fearing his answer, she stormed out the door.

He watched her leave, cursing himself for letting her think that he and Jackie could be together. But he still couldn't stop himself from saying, "Maybe we should," before going to his back room in the grungy basement.

Once the door was closed, a figure came out from behind the shower curtain sucking on a lollipop. He had snuck behind there, hoping to see Hyde and his hot stripper wife doing it, but when they started yelling, his hopes went down. After the argument, he was glad he stayed. He knew something that no one else knew. Hyde still loved Jackie.

* * *

Author's Note: I know, REALLY short but after I wrote so much about Sam, my muse started throwing up from how disgusted she was. Poor muse. That's why Sam WON'T be in the next chapter. Review please! 


	7. Rock In A Hard Place

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. The last season never happened. Sorry that I haven't been writing. I've been busy and I forgot. Also, this chapter is really short but I couldn't think of anything. I need to get back into the swing of things.

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

* * *

Chapter 7: Rock In A Hard Place

Jackie sat at the Forman's kitchen table, drumming her fingers on its surface. She was alone, thinking about the events of the past few days. A lot had happened, it honestly felt like it had been a lifetime since Fez had brought her some very interesting news.

FLASHBACK

_Fez looked nervously around as he paced the driveway. He had asked Jackie to come with him outside while everyone else was in the basement almost 15 minutes earlier and was still yet to say anything. Jackie was about to turn and leave_ _when he finally spoke._

_"He still loves you!"_

_She stopped mid turn and brought her eyes to Fez's face. "What?"_

_"He... Hyde loves you. He never stopped. He doesn't want to be with that slutty stripper!" Fez said as loud as he could._

_To his surprise, Jackie only let her lips draw into a small smile before saying, "I know that."_

_"Now I'm confused," Fez dead panned. _

_"Fez, really, I want to thank you for telling. You're a good friend, maybe the best that I have now, which is sad because I'm pretty and you're foreign, but I already knew. Steven loves me still, yes, but he doesn't want to be with me, not by the way he's been acting. He wants me to hurt, because I hurt him. And trust me, it's working. If he did want to be with me, if he was willing to give us another shot, and I mean a real shot not just what we were, then I'd take him back in a heartbeat." The end of her speech was more of a plea to let Steven know, via the gossip that Fez was, that she wanted him. From the look in Fez's eyes, Jackie thought that he understood what she meant. She smiled at him again and gave him a kiss on the cheek before returning to the basement where the group of people she was still calling her friends were getting ready for circle time._

END FLASHBACK

Jackie sighed. 'Apparently, Fez didn't get what I was saying,' she thought. Dread soon filled her face as a realization passed through her head. "Maybe he just doesn't care." She buried her face into her hands as she realized what an idiot she had been. All that time, she had thought that once Steven knew that she would forgive him, he'd come running back. It was the only option that she had considered. It never occurred to her that even though he_ loved_ her, that maybe he wasn't _in love_ with her. She was his Kelso; the one he'd always love but could no longer stand to be more than friends with, if friends at all. It was looking that way. He was treating her worse than he ever had, trying to push her away. She'd always thought that it had meant that he was trying not to get hurt again but maybe she was wrong. Lately, she was wrong about a lot of things, for example, Steven begging to have her back. "I'm such an idiot," she said before getting up and leaving the only place she ever felt truly welcome, knowing that she really wasn't welcome there anymore.

Fez paced his room. He felt like that was all he really ever did lately. Pace. He usually wasn't this concentrated. Even in trying to get the ladies he was always kind of free spirited, like a horny dog that won't take no for an answer. But he was kind of scared now. He knew something; something that could either destroy the already fragile state the group was in or rebuild it. He knew that Hyde wanted to be with Jackie, but he'd learned something else too. He, Fez, wanted Jackie. He loved her, adored her, worshiped her like neither of his friends could ever dream of. Both Kelso and Hyde has mistreated her so badly and seemed happy that they did; Fez couldn't understand it. Jackie was beautiful. Jackie could be caring. Jackie was a goddess. How could they violate a goddess like her?

That's where he was stuck. He knew he could make Jackie happy, but he also knew that she would never truly love him. He knew that she would always think of Hyde, even when she was with Fez. But he wanted her so damn badly. He deserved her; Hyde didn't.

"What do I do?" He asked himself in the mirror. But the mirror image didn't say anything back, leaving him with the hardest decision that he'd ever had to make. A decision that would effect the lives of everyone he knew forever.

* * *

AN: I think that the next chapter will be happier (not much) and really won't be centered around this. Maybe a few undertones, though. Thanks for reading, and I'm really sorry again that I haven't update since forever. 


	8. Think About It

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. The last season never happened. Sorry that I haven't been writing. I've been busy and I forgot. Also, this chapter is really short but I couldn't think of anything. I need to get back into the swing of things. 

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

* * *

Chapter 8: Think About It

Jackie flew upright, breathing heavy, pulse racing. She put her hand on her heart just to find it coming up to give her a high five. Quickly, she turned her bedside light on and threw back the covers. Nothing. 'Just a dream'.

Only moments before, in the vast expanse of land where dreams were from, she had thrown back those very same covers to reveal the head of one Fatso the Clown. Not only was it frightening having a giant head in her head, the fact that it was of a clown added most of the fear. She was deathly afraid of clowns, stemming back from an incident that happened at one of her birthday parties when she was a child.

After she had calmed down a bit, she turned off the light and tried going back to sleep, only finding that she imagined Fatso's face every time she closed her eyes. She even tried turning the light on and just laying down on her back, staring at the ceiling, to try to fall asleep, but every little noise brought her heart race again. 'I can't do this anymore,' she thought. Finalizing her decision with a small head nod, she threw back the covers again (half expecting to find Fatso there and letting out a breath of air she didn't realize that she was holding when she didn't) and got up.

With her light on, she could see where she draped her clothes from the day before and quickly and carefully changed into them. Once fully dressed, she brushed her hair. There was no way she was going out not looking her best, even if it was unlikely that she would see anyone at, '2:56 in the morning,' she thought as she glanced at the clock. She shrugged it off as better to be safe than sorry and left her room, going to place she felt safest.

Less than a half an hour later she was at the door to the Forman's basement. The world was dark around her, only the moon giving off a small amount of light. Her surroundings were covered in a misty blue that scared some and comforted others.

At the door, she leaned in, ear to the door, checking to see if Steven was still awake watching TV. Stripper Sam the Super Slut was at a convention which meant that Jackie wouldn't have to worry about that. When she heard nothing, she slowly opened the door a crack, just to make 100 sure he wasn't lurking. Peeking in, the light from the moon showed the basement in darkness and the only sound was the very light humming of the freezer. Satisfied, she stepped in and closed the door behind her, as quietly as she possibly could. A wave of deja vu hit her as the memories of sneaking in Steven's room when she had no where else to go ran through her head. She smiled a little, knowing that she knew exactly how to get to Steven's room in the dark without tripping on anything. Well, there was that one time, but she wasn't counting then.

She walked two steps in and turned to her right. 'Four paces until the shower curtain will hit your right hand, then two more until the little step, three more until Steven's room, turn right, the door knob is parallel to your belly button, turn it until your palm faces up and push,' she recalled, 'I bet Sam doesn't know that."

She sighed and then grimaced, knowing that she was probably a little loud and Steven wasn't all that sound of a sleeper when he'd only been asleep a few hours. The gang had been out until almost midnight so he probably had only been asleep for about an hour or so. 'Damn. Why did I come?'

'Because you had no where else to go,' her mind answered.

'Oh shut up,' she said back and kicked her mind in the shin, watching it drop to the floor and hold tight to it's injury, hissing in pain while rocking back and forth. She watched it for a few minutes before she got bored and went to turn on the light.

With the light on, she almost felt at peace. Until she remember that Fatso had been there once, on the very spot that she was sitting and she moved quickly to Steven's chair, before realizing that it might not have been the smartest place to move either.

FLASHBACK

_"What was that?" Hyde said._

_"What?" Jackie replied._

_"You just shook," Hyde said, referring to the shiver he felt on top of him. _

_They were sitting like they always did, Hyde leaned back in his chair and Jackie seated comfortably on top of him, one of her hands in his hair and one of his hands snaked around her waist. They had been watching a Fatso Burger commercial when he felt her shaking. "Oh, that. I just don't like clowns."_

_"You don't like clowns? You're kidding, right?" When all her got was her patented glare, he continued. "You like unicorns and rainbows and ABBA but you don't like clowns." Without warning, Hyde started laughing as if it were the funniest thing he'd ever heard._

_"Steven! It's not funny. I hate clowns! They scare me!" She whined at him._

_Hyde stopped laughing and took off his rose colored glasses. "Wait, you're afraid of them?" Jackie looked down and nodded sadly. His face was serious for a moment but quickly turned into a smile and then another laugh. "So, lets see, you're afraid of ugly people, homeless people and clowns," he said barely containing his laughter and then having it explode._

_"Steven!" Jackie stammered before getting up and stomping towards the door._

_"No, Jackie, wait!" he cried in between laughs. She turned to him, hands on her hips, waiting for him to stop. When he didn't, she growled in frustration and turned again. "No, Jackie, wait, come here."_

_Reluctantly, she faced him and saw he had stopped laughing and even held his hand out towards her. She walked back to him and took his outstretched hand as he pulled hr back onto his lap._

_"Okay, I'm sorry," he said before leaning down to plant a gentle kiss on her lips. Even though she wanted a long speech about why he was sorry, she knew him and knew that even 'I'm sorry' was a tough thing to say. _

_"It's okay but to really say you're sorry, you have to take me to the mall," Jackie said, grinning. She stood up and turned back to him, waiting._

_Hyde groaned and rolled his head back on his shoulders, "Fine," he smiled slyly, "but we're stopping for a Fatso Burger."_

_"Steven!"_

END FLASHBACK

A single tear fell down her face at the memory. Then a few more. A stream of silent tears formed on her cheeks, making her face shine in the light.

"Jackie?" she heard coming from the hall and she wiped her eyes quickly before looking up to see him.

"Steven?"

"What are you doing here, Jacks? It's like 4 in the morning." he said half asleep and not even noticing using his old pet name for her.

"I had a bad dream," she replied. Only she had noticed what he called her and it made her tears try to come a little harder, even though she pushed them back.

"Oh, then that's why you're crying?" he asked skeptically.

There was a pause. "Yeah..."she said meekly, convincing neither one, but Hyde nodded his head and headed back for his room.

When he was almost there, he stopped and said, "I'm not worth crying over," before stepping back into his bedroom. As he shut the door, he faintly heard a soft voice say...

"Then why do I always do?"

* * *

AN: I'm going to hold off on the Fez thing for another chapter and maybe add more Kitty in there. I tried to make him a little bit nicer without ruining what I am going to do with him. Tell me what you think. 


	9. Seasons of Wither

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. The last season never happened. Sorry that I haven't been writing. I've been busy and I forgot. Also, this chapter is **really** short but I couldn't think of anything. I need to get back into the swing of things.

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

* * *

Chapter 9: Seasons of Wither 

Ooh woe is me I feel so badly for you

Ooh woe is me I feel so sadly for you

In time bound to lose your mind

Live on borrowed time

Take the wind right out of your sail

-Aerosmith

Kitty watched Red sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper. "How can you just sit there and read when your son could be getting eaten by a lion!" she yelled at him.

"Kitty," he said sternly. "Eric won't get eaten by a lion. He's too lean."

"Red" she cried before glancing around the room quickly and storming out of the room.

"Dammit." Red folded up his paper and set it down on the table. "Even in Africa that dumbass can ruin my day"

In the bedroom that they had shared for many decades, Kitty cried, like she had ever since he'd left. Even she didn't think that his leaving was going to hurt her so badly. When Laurie left home, Kitty was generally okay. So, Laurie wasn't her favorite. Even as a slutty, good for nothingdaughter, Laurie was her daughter and she loved, whether or not she admitted it. And sure, Eric was her baby, had been since the moment she found out she was pregnant. She even gave up drinking when she was pregnant with him, because she loved him so much. It was expected that after he left, she drank way more than she ever had. She drank to pass the time; she drank to get away from the pain and the loneliness; she drank because she didn't know what else to do. Without him, there really wasn't much of a her, she'd come to find out. For over 18 years, she made it her duty to protec t him and love him and take care of him. Even with Donna around, she still had to do it. Now that he was taking care of children and their education in Africa, she didn't know what else she was supposed to do. She had heard that when people retired from jobs that they've had all their lives they didn't know where they were left in the world. She always had thought they just needed to pick up a hobby. And that's what she did. It was just that her hobby burned going down and made her happy when she really wasn't.

* * *

Author's Note: Yeah, I realize that this is the shortest chapter in history but I honestly couldn't think of anything else at the moment. Kitty is really hard to write for when she's not comic relief or a moral center. Oh well. I just wanted to add that chapter to let everyone know what she was dealing with, but I will add more to her inner story later. Expect a breakdown very soon. Anyway, there will by more JH goodness (well, there will be some JH goodness because my story doesn't really have any yet) in the next chapter. No big Fez story yet... you'll see. Review please. And, just a side note, the sequel to The Leaving Song is coming. Yay! 


	10. Outta Your Head

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. The last season never happened. Sorry that I haven't been writing. I've been busy and I forgot. Also, this chapter isn't asshort as the otherbut I still couldn't think of anything. But it does have some fluffy JH goodness in it! Enjoy!

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

* * *

Chapter 10: Outta Your Head 

Grooves. The one place that he really mattered.

True, he had a home and a welcome home at that. Mrs. Forman loved him and so did Red, although he'd NEVER admit it. And he had wife.

'My wife,' Hyde thought and grimaced. At first, he was freaked. Then he got used to it and decided that it wasn't so bad. But now he was back to freaking out. He never thought he would get married, let alone the _first_ to get married. And when he started to think about the possibility, it wasn't going to be for many years and it wasn't going to be with a stripper he barely knew. Sure, having a wife that could bend in some really "nice" ways was okay but sex got old after a while when you really didn't give a crap about the other person. When he realized that, he got so drunk that the night hegot married to Sam looked like a preschool fundraiser.

Sex with Jackie never got boring. Ever. Never ever. Not even for a second. No matter what they were doing, how they were doing or where they were doing it, it was always perfect. 'Probably because I loved her'.

It took him forever to say that; that he really did love her and love being with her. In his mind, now, he was completely able to think about their past and how he felt about it. Because it was his past; there was no going back. He didn't mess it up this time. He destroyed it.

So, Steven Hyde sat behind the register, listening to Led Zeppelin, trying not to think about her. Jackie. 'Oh shit'.

Of course, the world loves to torture it's tortured souls. It wouldn't be fun otherwise. As he sat brooding, the very person he was brooding about strolled in. In all her glory. And the jeans that drove him wild.

"Hey," she said when she reached him, leaning on the counter. After the night he found her crying, she decided that maybe they could be friends after all. Until he figured out what she wanted. Or until Fez told him.

"Hey," he said back, still staring at nothing. Luckily he had his glasses or else she might know what he was thinking.

"So, nobody's really here. Bad selling day?" she asked, trying to start a meaningful conversation.

He laughed. "More like bad year."

"Are things really going that bad?" she said, concerned.

Hyde rubbed at his forehead. "Nah, I guess not. Just lately business hasn't been... great... I guess... I'm not good at being the man, you know, man?"

"Steven. I...uh... I don't know if you ever really knew this... but I'm proud of you."

"What? For becoming a corporate lackey who's only interest is stealing money from people who can't afford it, to give to the government, so they can keep feeding the public lies!"

"Err... no. Not exactly," she said. Gaining courage, she slide her hand over to his and grabbed, gently bringing it close to her. "I'm proud that you finally saw what I've always seen in you. I'm proud that you're making something of yourself but not losing your morals... or your conspiracy theories. I'm just... really proud of you."

She rendered him speechless. Her ego would probably need to buy a bigger mansion to keep itself in if it realized how many times she did that to him. He didn't know what to say or how to thank her, if he was even supposed to thank her. He wasn't good in these situations. And she knew that.

"Yeah, just wanted you to know," she said, letting go of his hand and straightening herself. "So, do you have ABBA's Album? I know, that came out last year but I was so busy that I didn't even get myself a copy, which sucks because I love that song "Name of the Game". It's got such a cool beat and..."

"Jackie! Shut your pie hole."

"Steven!" she said as she playfully hit him in the shoulder.

"It's in the loser section, right over there," Hyde said as he pointed to the farthest end of the store.

"You mean where the sign says 'Disco'?"

"Yeah, that's what I said." Jackie turned and gave him a dirty look just before walking to the section and getting her album. As she looked through, a little bit of the weight that was resting on her heart fell to the floor and it didn't hurt so bad.

For either one of them.

* * *

Author's Note: So? Was that better? They still have a while to go though. Just read... and review please! 


	11. Draw The Line

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. The last season never happened. Sorry that I haven't been writing. I've been busy and I forgot. Also, this chapter isn't as short as the others but I still couldn't think of anything. There isn't any JH in it but I wanted everyone to know where the other characters are.

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

* * *

Chapter 11: Draw The Line 

Heads I win tails you lose lord it's such a crime

No dice honey you the salt you're the queen of the brine

Checkmate honey you're the only one who's got ta choose

Where to draw the line

The TV was on, full blast, in the basement. But the person there wasn't really watching it at all. His mind was more focused on other things, moral things. He was debating which one of his friends to betray. He could betray Hyde by not telling him what he knew. Or he could betray Jackie, who didn't even know she was being betrayed. In his mind, the biggest hurt to Jackie would be going back to Hyde because, even though they were best of friends, he knew that Hyde would hurt her again. And again. And again. The cycle would never stop.

His heart and his mind were at war, trying to figure out his next action. He could tell Hyde that Jackie still loved him so they could get back together again. Or he could keep his mouth shut and eventually get Jackie himself. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Jackie realized that he was the best guy for her, even if she would never love him. Being with a goddess was good enough, he thought.

So, Fez sat, as he had been for days, thinking about what to do, still not knowing the answer.

* * *

The heat was unbearable. It was thick, sticky, oppressive, choking and any and every other horrible descriptive word a person could think of. But in the heat, Eric could only think of one. Hot. 

The students wiped at their brows every once and a while. They were generally used to it; they were born in it. Today it was a little worse because it wasn't dry; it was humid. The air clung to the students and their clothes, getting trapped inside, threatening to never come out. It made them irritable, but they didn't show it. They were happy just to have the opportunity to learn.

Before Mr. Eric came, they helped their families with whatever work they had, whether it was washing clothes, carrying buckets of water from the river or taking care of younger siblings. Then they started building a school. It had three rooms, a classroom in each. Adjoined to the school was a medical center, with one large room and several smaller rooms and a wooden hut for the teachers and doctors and nurses to live in, sometimes sharing rooms. The area was poor, but not overly poor. They were like most other small African villages, nothing terribly important about them.

Mr. Eric was the last of the three teachers to come. When he arrived, some of boys snickered at him for being so tall and lanky, without any muscle. The other teachers, men, were sturdy, one was even fat. The parents admired the fat teacher at first, because it meant that he came from a place that had a generous amount of food. It meant that he must be smart and rich and a good teacher for their children. They thought less of Mr. Eric (although not much) because he was a lighter and albeit healthy version of them; they didn't think he was as smart. But after just a few days of Mr. Eric teaching their children, they loved him best. After school, the students of Mr. Eric rushed home screaming. They shouted in joy that Mr. Eric was funny and nice and treated them good. They said there were a few things they didn't understand, (one commenting that they didn't understand why Mr. Eric sometimes referred to himself as Luke. He had said his name was Eric) but otherwise they were happy that Mr. Eric was their teacher.

The good news had gotten back to Eric, via the fat teacher in an unhappy tone. He immediately called his mom and told her, even though it was 2 in the morning where she was. He couldn't hep it; he was too happy.

Even though it was what he wanted (after all, he choose to go there) he didn't realize what it meant until the children said they liked him. He felt needed and wanted and loved, something that he rarely felt at home. His friends needed, wanted and loved him, but they would survive without him. It would take a serious adjusting period but they could do it. The kids needed him to survive. Without him, they might not have a teacher and get an education. They would stay poor like their families and never be able to help their country become a better nation.

Eric thought he would be home sick. He wasn't.

* * *

She watched the clock on her night stand tick passed another minute. 'Just one less minute until he gets home', she thought. She turned over and thought about all the times that they had together. Moments when he messed everything up by being a dumbass, moments when she was too stupid to see how much she loved him. It wasn't supposed to be this way, she knew that. They were supposed to be in Madison. She was supposed to be in college. Life didn't turn out how she planned. 

She had a check list of everything she wanted. Going to college. Becoming something great. Being with Eric forever.

She only had one of the things on her check list. And then she got a call from Africa. And then she had none.

* * *

Author's Note: I should have the next JH chapter tonight. Review! 


	12. Somebody

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. The last season never happened. 

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

**Author's Note:** In case any of you were wondering, besides Fez, the characters in the last chapter were in a flashback of sorts. I just saw that I really never let anyone know about the Eric and Donna breakup and I found a bit of space to put it in. Sorry this was a bit late; the last couple of nights my internet connection wasn't working very well. But here it is now! And also, sorry if the first paragraph doesn't make any sense, it was like 3:30 in the morning. But hopefully the rest is better.

* * *

Chapter 12: Somebody

I need a lady not somebody shady

I need someone to be close to

Somebody cozy not somebody nosy

Help me see my whole day through

Someone to share the load

Somebody to walk the road I live on

It was the third time that week that they were in the basement alone together and the tension could be swiped at before it passed. Which was a big step considering a month ago it was so thick it had to be tore into with a chain saw.'The Price Is Right' was droning from the television, both watching it intently. It passed both of their minds that only a while ago they first started making out to this show but neither thought it was appropriate to bring it up. Each was trying to get passed the hurt and the pain the other one caused while simultaneously trying to show the other that they wanted to get passed it. Unfortunately, since they were busy with their own agendas, they didn't see the others, which meant that what they were secretly and discreetly doing wasn't helping at all.

Finally, after another old lady came up to play, Jackie had enough. With a sigh she said, "I'm bored."

"Me too," Hyde replied, not taking his eyes of the television.

Sensing that she would have to initiate the action, she turned her body to him. "Well, then lets do something."

Curious, Hyde looked at her with an eyebrow raised, although Jackie barely noticed it because of his glasses. "What did you have in mind?"

"Ugh," she gasped in mock disgust, "Not that, you pig!"

In his head, he knew that he should be more serious about what she said. After all, he was married. But Hyde found himself smirking while Jackie grinned at him. 'This is interesting,' he thought. 'Neither one of us are making a big deal about it.'

The same thought crossed Jackie's mind, which increased her smile. Slowly, they were coming back together. And maybe, one day, they could get back to where they once were.

"No, seriously, what did you wanna do?" Hyde said.

"Well..." Jackie said, thinking about all her options. Suddenly, her head snapped up and she had a giddy look on her face.

"No," Hyde said before she could respond.

"But Steven..."

"No."

"Please..."

"No, Jackie, I'm not driving you to the mall!"

"You're not just driving, you're coming with me."

"Oh, okay. No."

"But, there's a sale!"

"I thought you said that sales were on the stuff that ugly people get."

"They are! I want to go and buy the stuff that's not on sale. See, when there's a sale, they mark it. That way, I won't buy ugly stuff."

"And you buy ugly stuff when there isn't a sale?"

"No, I'm just making sure. So, please... Don't make me wear ugly stuff," she pleaded.

"Oh God forbid," he said sarcastically. Looking at her, though, he changed his mind. "Fine, but we're not going long," he said standing up.

The joy spread across Jackie's face in a flash. "Oh thank you, Steven," she said and bound to him before giving him a tight hug.

The second her delicate warmth touched him he felt like he was home. Which wasn't a good sign. But he didn't want her to stop. In the few seconds they were joined, he remembered how her body fit with his perfectly, how her hair smelt, how she hugged a little tighter when she was sad or scared. All too soon, though, she realized what she was doing and broke from him. Luckily his glasses hid his disappointment.

"Oh sorry, old habits die hard," she said, giving him an apologetic smile.

"Yeah..." he muttered slowly.

"So, lets go to mall!" she squealed and the tension from the embrace was gone.

Hyde found himself reaching for her hand, like he always did when they were together. In those times, even if it was Forman-like to hold hands, he couldn't stop touching her. Any and every time he got the chance, he reached out to stroke her hair and wrap his arms around her waist. He sometimes thought that if there were a camera focused on them and the rest of the gang, the majority of the time would see them touching each other. And as they walked out the basement door together and up the steps, he missed it. Deeply.

Three hours and several hundred dollars later, the basement door flung open to reveal a very dishevel looking Hyde carrying an armload of boxes and bags. The light was dim, so he slowly made his way to the couch and set the bags down.

"Where have you been?" a bitchy voice said.

Having his vision obscured by the purchases Hyde hadn't seen anyone in the room and had to turn towards his chair to see the intruder. But it wasn't an intruder; not really. She was unwanted and unwelcome but she had, legally, every right to be there. Sam.

Her blonde hair was down around her shoulders, making her skinny neck look less like a chicken's. The clothes that she wore were normal for her; a small purple top that didn't even reach her midriff and a pair of short shorts. He used to like that. But now he didn't remember why.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

She scoffed. "What do you mean, what am I doing here? I _live_ here, remember?" She got up and went over to the bags. "Are these for me?" she said while opening a bag and pulling out a pair of size 0 jeans.

"Uhh... Sam..." Hyde began

"Steven! You were right, we probably should leave my new clothes in your car, because we're just going to have to..." Jackie started as she bound down the stairs and flipped on the light switch. "What's she doing putting her slutty hands all over my new jeans?"

"Well..." he began... again.

"Whatever I want. This is my house and my husband and since these are in my basement, they're mine!" Sam spat.

"Huh, you couldn't fit them over your gigantiod ass if you tried!" Jackie screamed back.

"So..." Hyde tried to get in.

"Well, you have a small chest!"

"Well, you have a fake chest!"

"Come on..."

"You're short!"

"You're ugly!"

Sam gasped and searched her brain for ammunition. "You... you... you... you weren't good enough for Hyde!"

The room fell silent and everyone's eyes turned to the small brunette. She looked like she was on the verge of tears but she calmly walked over to her bags and gathered them together. As she walked back to the door, she turned around one final time.

"You know what Sam? Neither are you." And then she was gone.

"Well, I'm glad she's gone," Sam said to Hyde, who was staring at the open door. She sauntered over and gave him a peck on the cheek and rubbed her hands over the muscles in his chest. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Leave."

"Okay, where are we going?" she asked playfully.

"No, we're not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere," he said, disinterested and cold.

"What?"

"You. Leave. Now."

"Hyde, I'm your wife, I'm not just leaving. We made a commitment."

"That I don't even remember!" he yelled, finally getting angry enough to put her in her place. "I was going to marry Jackie. And I didn't need booze to trick me into that. I did with you because I don't love you. I don't care about you. I really don't even like you that much. Look Sam. You've been a bitch to Jackie but to everyone else you've been okay so I'll pay for your plane ticket back or whatever and start on the divorce crap. But that's it, we're done!"

"You're just saying that because you're angry," she said with an edge in her voice.

"I am angry but that's not why I'm saying it. Leave Sam. Just go." with that, Hyde walked out and slammed the basement door. As he made his way to his car, he felt the weight that he had been carrying fall off of him.

* * *

Authors Note: Hooray! The wicked bitch is dead! And don't worry, she's really gone. I can't write for Sam, I get too sick. I hope you liked it. Review please! 


	13. Nobody's Fault

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. The last season never happened. 

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again?

Author's Note: I wrote this at work. I just thought you should know that, for you, I neglect my job. Haha. Anyway, thanks for all the positive feedback. Reviews are very appreciated. Thank you!

* * *

Chapter 13: Nobody's Fault 

Eyes are full of desire

Mind is so ill at ease

Everything is on fire

Shit piled up to the knees

Out of rhyme or reason

Everyone's to blame

Children of the season

Don't be lame

"God Hyde, I can't believe your divorcing Sam!" Donna said. It was the morning after he told Sam to leave and they had already brought his soon-to-be ex-wife to the airport. Surprisingly, after their initial confrontation the night before, she hadn't made a fuss.

"If you wanna cry, it's okay. We won't tell," Kitty chirped from the stove. She was finishing getting the bacon she'd made for breakfast out of the pan.

"I will," Red said, not taking his eyes off the morning paper he had been reading at the table.

"Oh Red!" Kitty cried before letting go of the spatula and rushing through the swinging door.

Red folded the paper down to watch her run away. "Kitty..." he tried, with no success. "Damn."

"Lady problems?" Hyde smirked.

"Yeah... Eric," Red said before going off in the direction his distraught wife went.

At the mention of his name, Hyde saw Donna avert her eyes to the floor. "You still miss him?" he asked once Red was out of sight.

"No, I hate him," she quickly and coldly responded.

"I didn't ask whether you hated him or not. I asked whether or not you missed him." Before hearing her answer, Hyde got up from the table and went to the basement, not forgetting to snag some bacon on the way.

After she heard the basement door close, Donna sank her head into her hands. It was true. She missed Eric more than she'd ever admit. He had always been there for her, comforting her, helping her. Even when they weren't together, he was the one she turned to. And now he wasn't.

Hanging out with Randy was fun, but he wasn't Eric. He didn't listen as intently and when he offered advice, it didn't seem as sincere. With Eric gone, she realized, she didn't just not have a boyfriend. She also didn't have a best friend.

Sighing, she ran her hands through her hair and lifted her head. She almost screamed as her eyes met Fez's. Shaken, she said, "Fez, what the hell? How long have you been sitting there?"

"Not long," he said in an uncharacteristically monotone voice. "Donna, can I ask you a question?"

"Not now Fez, I'm not having a good day," she said.

"Please Donna, it's important."

Noting the seriousness in his pleas, she nodded and said, "Yeah Fez, what's going on?"

"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath before continuing. "What if you knew something that was probably good news but could potentially hurt someone you cared about? Would you tell them the news or not?"

Donna sat and thought about it. "Fez," she said finally. "Is this about one of those slutty salon bimbos?"

"Yes... you figured it out," he said in an unconvincing tone that no one ever seemed to pick up on.

"Fez, just tell the person. If it hurts them, then at least you were honest and let them decide for themselves what they want to do." Feeling a little better because of the great advice she'd given Donna said goodbye to Fez and went to find Randy. 'No need to think about old what's-his-face when he's not around, anyway.'

But Fez sat in the Forman kitchen for a while longer, thinking about what Donna said. She told him to tell Hyde what Jackie felt, but he still didn't know if he was ready to do that.

* * *

Up in the bedroom that they shared, Red tried smoothing things over with his crying wife. He'd noticed her crying more and more lately, which made him worried. He felt like he was talking her down from a cliff. But it wasn't working. 

"Come on, Kitty, you know that's how I am. I'm a dumbass," he tried, incerting his own catch phrase to make her laugh but her sobs only intensified. "Uhh... I love you."

"You don't get it!" she screamed at him, turning to face him. Her eyes shone with pure hatred and anger and fear, something Red had never seen before.

"I'll leave you alone," he said, slowly backing out of the room. There were lots of things that Red Forman had seen in his life. Terrible things. Things that would make most men go insane after just a glimpse. But all those things never got to him the way the look in her eyes just then did. For one of the few times in his life, save Korea and his heart attack, Red was truly afraid.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry it's kinda short. I wanted to switch back and forth before a JH chapter and the whole cast, while keeping theKitty sidestory in there.The next chapter might take a day or two because I don't have any ideas for what to do. Anyone have any ideas? I want to keep it light and fluffy between Jackie and Hyde for a few more chapters, then it's gonna get angsty. Review please! 


	14. She's On Fire

DISCLAIMER: I don't own That 70's Show or anything related to it. I wish I did cause then I could make Jackie and Hyde be together. Humph… Oh well. The last season never happened. 

Summary: Takes place in the 8th Season, during and after Fun It. Jackie and Hyde bottle up their feelings because they can't stand getting hurt again by each other. The final season leads them through tragedy and self-discovery. But will it lead them together again.

* * *

Chapter14: She's On Fire

Hungry girl she's the skinniest thing 

She's sayin' the word I'm losin' steam 

She's on fire 

A week had passed since Sam left and Jackie had to admit it was the best week of her life. Since Sam went away, she was once again getting closer to Hyde. She didn't know if Fez said anything but if he did, it was working. Hyde was coming back to her.

Of course, if they did want to make another go of it, there would still be a lot of ground to cover before they could get to a good place. She still had a lot of hurt in her and she knew he did too. Those kind of things just didn't go away because they were being nice to each other. But for now, she was happy.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. At the moment, she was completely miserable. It was the end of summer, nearly 100 degrees out and they had a blackout. Great.

"Steven!" she whined.

"No, I'm not fanning you again. Hey, why don't you fan me?"

"Because it would take too much effort and it's too hot!" she yelled before shifting uncomfortably. The couch in the basement was hot, the fabric getting damp in the humid air. The only light that was in the room was a small candle that Mrs. Forman gave them before she and Mr. Forman went for a drive. If he had enough gas, Hyde would have done the same thing. But he used it all when he and Jackie went to the Hub the night before. Thinking on it, he grimaced and wrinkled his eyebrows.

Without anything to do, Jackie stared into the candle flame. 'This would be romantic if it wasn't hot,' she thought. She sighed and heard Hyde groan at her sigh, something he insisted on doing without ever realizing he did it. "Steven."

"What?" he growled.

"Well, you don't have to be mean about it!" she snapped before turning away from him, focusing her gaze on the shadows flickering on the wall.

"Well, Jackie, it's hotter than Satan's asshole in here, I can't help it. So quit asking me!" he said, facing her back. Without his permission, his mind registered the curves of her shoulders in the sun dress she wore. He wanted to touch her, needed to, but couldn't let himself. Especially since she was mad. She would probably slap him if he tried.

"Steven," she said as she turned herself so she could see him out of the corner of her eye. "I was just going to ask if you wanted to play a card game. I saw a pack of cards upstairs before we came down here. Why do you always assume I'm asking you for something?"

"Because you always are," he answered lamely.

"Well, I wasn't this time."

"Whatever."

"You know, you're such a...a... meanie!" she threw back at him, hating his usual dismissive comment.

"Well, you aren't Miss Mary Sunshine either!" Hyde was getting angry. He would soon start saying stuff he didn't mean. But, considering the last week, Jackie knew he wouldn't be mean about it.

In the seconds after he spoke, she remembered his words after he decided Sam could stay. They were mean and aimed to kill; they were vicious and they stung like hell. But his last remark wasn't like that. It was in the way they used to fight, where he would be an ass and she would be a bitch but neither crossed that line where the other cried. Okay, most of the time they fought that way. But they were emotional people (even if Hyde never admitted it) so sometimes things got out of control. And he didn't lose his control in his anger this time so she lost control in hers.

Barely thinking anymore, she spun around and closed the distance between them. She met his gaze and saw his eyes clouded over with surprise and lust. She could feel his warm breath on her lips as she pressed her mouth to his. At the touch, he pressed himself closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, one at her lower back, the other at the base of her neck. He grazed his tongue against her lips and she parted her mouth, wanting to get even closer to him. The fire that had been building for months exploded and soon they were clawing at each other's clothing. Hands and lips drifted over exposed skin, each not wanting to let go.

Hyde moved down to her kiss her neck and she moaned softly. He brought his lips back up to hers and kissed her with so much emotion she felt like she could burst.

Jackie faintly heard a buzzing seconds before light hit her closed eyes. The sudden brightness drew her back and she opened her eyes to the newly lighted room. The power had come back on.

As if the darkness held their passion, they stopped as quickly as they started. Jackie fixed her dress and muttered something about seeing Donna before she rapidly walked out of the room. Hyde watched her go and once the door had closed he turned on the TV. He watched it for hours, now not noticing the intense heat. He didn't think about what had happened but every now and then, his eyes glanced at the still burning candle.

* * *

Author's Note: I waited with the AN so I wouldn't give anything away. I know, I'm not that great with love scenes but maybe I'll just write more and try to get better at it ;). I hope you liked it and I'm wicked sorry about the lateness of this chapter. One of the reasons it's late is because of it's inspiration. This last week, I've lost power at my house three times. Review please! 


End file.
